Friday, November 14, 2014

Change Is Hard, I Should Know...

Any She & Him fans out there? No? Maybe? Well, if you don't know about She & Him, you need to. They're amazing. The band is a duo - Zooey Deschanel, who I admire and adore, and M. Ward, one apically awesome guitarist/songwriter. He is one of those musicians where if I hear him playing, I know immediately that it's him.

That's not the point of this blog post, though I immediately thought of their song when contemplating what to write, hence the title. It's such a good song and I love singing along to it when showering or driving. Another side note - showers and cars are the BEST performance spaces.

The only thing constant is change!

I wanted to sit you down, my children, and talk about change. Just the word makes me cringe. I don't know if you harbor the same bad vibes, but for me, change is tough. It's just brutal. I normally avoid change and cling to my routines with all of my being when I am able to (just ask Cody!).

Just a change in my morning schedule can throw me through a loop. For example, today I had an early call with a rep in Spain - meaning I had to get up earlier than I normally do so I could get to work by 7:30am. This change caused me to wake up almost every hour in anticipation of my earlier alarm!

Do you feel that way about change? Needless to say, it causes a lot of anxiety for me.

Recently, there's been a LOT of change that has been out of my control (another thing that makes me tick - when I am out of control of things. I know, control freak, right? I know it!) and while not all of it is bad (actually, hardly any of it is bad), it still takes a toll on my introverted delicate mind. Change is a lot of adjustment and it usually requires a lot of work. I tend to get overwhelmed - even if I know and prepare myself for the change, I am bound to feel overwhelmed and in need of a good cry.
The biggest change is with my role at work. For the past year, I have worn many hats in my entry level position at EMC, which has been great. It's helped me learn all kinds of things and develop myself here. I've loved the variety but always wondered where I'd go next. This fall, our division merged with another division. My team grew from 5 people to 15 people. My boss made some organizational changes and I was offered a chance to choose between a role on the campaigns side (similar to what I do now) or the events side. I was daring for once in my life, pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and opted for the new and unknown - the events team!

As of the New Year, I'll be joining the team that plans and executes all our tradeshows, sponsored events, conferences, etc. It's a busy job but it's a focused role - and one I feel naturally good at! I mean, it's a great job for an organized freak like me. I had a lot of fun when I helped with events this past year. I was in charge of the internal launch for our biggest product, ViPR, and loved essentially decorating all our offices all over the globe. When I was given that project (not to mention it was only a month into my time here), no one informed me that it was never done before! Needless to say, I made a lasting first impression on a lot of people in corporate. Oops! They got over it...mostly.

Some of the things I executed in EMC offices all over the world to celebrate ViPR's birthday!

I was also my co-worker's sidekick with EMC World this past May. She was in charge of our division's booth and I helped her with everything she needed help with whether it was scheduling booth duty, approving the costumes for the actors working in our booth as our ViPR characters, or working the hostess desk at the booth itself to welcome folks into our space.

It was so much fun, not to mention a free trip to Vegas. That was just a minor plus.

I am excited to do things like the above full time - but the dark cloud of change is looming and it can get scary.

I am now trying to work out where my current responsibilities will go and when I know who is taking them, I have to figure out how to train them on the processes, etc.

That alone is overwhelming! I've been in charge of things like the webcast program and the weekly lead reports for over a year now. I know the processes by heart. Sure, I can write them up in a step-by-step guide for someone new, but letting these items go and trusting them in new hands is kind of nerve-wracking.

For lack of better words, the webcast program has been my baby. There's so much involved. How can I possibly get someone new up to speed in a few weeks time?

Breathe. Just breathe. Right?

The key is to remind myself that I am not the only one going through this. Most of my division is using Q4 to wrap up our current roles, transition items off our lap, and prepare to move into our new roles with the New Year. I am not alone in the overwhelming thoughts of Q1 2015. Still, that doesn't make the anxiety just go away.

So I am open to recommendations on how to keep my anxieties at bay.

I discovered recently that, no, yoga does NOT help. In fact, if I go to yoga at all wound up, I just get angrier at how I do in yoga and get fed up with how wobbly I am in airplane pose when last week I had rocked it. So no, yoga does not serve as a de-stress activity for me. Funny, right? Just going home to dinner and TV with Cody helps. I've been sticking to that. Oh and singing in the car to and from work.

I'm curious, what do YOU do to chill your bones when things get tough and change is inevitable?

What's that cliche? Life's a roller coaster - all you can do is hang on? OK maybe I made that up...